Chase Budinger is out 3-4 months

After surgery on Tuesday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, Minnesota Timberwolves starter Chase Budinger will miss minimally three months, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery on Tuesday, and a source said the meniscus was completely repaired and will allow for a full recovery for Budinger. He had averaged nearly 12 points a game for the Wolves this season, after coming over from the Houston Rockets for the 18th overall pick in the June NBA Draft.

Since the Woj report earlier in the day, the team has released their official statement on the surgery:

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Chase Budinger underwent successful surgery today to repair a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee. The surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews at the Andrews Institute for Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Budinger’s injury occurred at the 6:00 mark of the fourth quarter in Minnesota’s game at Chicago on Nov. 10.

Budinger is expected to be out approximately 3-4 months.

I’d imagine it’s closer to three months, just because the team seems to be pretty conservative on their estimations with recovery.

This is not ideal and much longer than the standard that has been set with previous injuries. But we also had no idea how damaged the meniscus was before the surgery happened. This puts Chase back around the All-Star break and in shape for a playoff push in March and April. I’m not sure if the winning basketball or the amount of injuries are making me numb to it, but the news post-surgery doesn’t actually make me feel bad about the team right now.